Please Be My Legal Wife – part 5

A/N: I’m sorry for the delay. I had to recall from my memory the draft that I made which was deleted when my laptop crashed. I know there are some of you, who, like me, visit personal blogs of the contributors of stories we religiously follow. With the thought that at least one co-adik is checking on my blog (http://attymayivr.wordpress.com) dahil hindi na makapag antay ma post sa EB, is really inspiring.

Thank you to Katniss and misschuchy too for sharing this story.

Wagas na pasasalamat sa EB Admin for a site like this and for accommodating this story. Salamat din kay Admin Sharpie21 for attending to my emails.

Withthat, Maya turned around and entered her bedroom without looking back and shut the door behind her immediately, leaving Richard outside still stoned to the ground with amazement. Her wits, guts and spontaneity simply surprised him. She doesn’t seem to be intimidated by him, even in an infuriated state and despite his wrathful conduct.

Chapter FIVE

How to Train to Dragoon

The next morning, Richard got up early as usual but, instead of driving himself immediately to LAS, he decided to delay his departure and stay for breakfast so he can join the kids and Maya and the rest of the household. Today is Maya’s first day of work with the Lim family and he felt that he needed to mark it officially and welcome her during breakfast. He would have done it last night, had there been an opportunity, and if the spontaneous jump to the pool did not happen when he first saw Maya.

He checked on the time as he puts on his watch. It was almost 7:00 in the morning. He sprayed cologne and went out of his room to go down to the dining area, where Manang Fe was.

Richard: Okay lang po, I do not have any meeting this morning. I’ll just wait for a few more minutes baka bababa na rin mga bata. First day kasi ni Maya ngayon sa atin, I wanted sana na ma welcome ko siya officially this morning because there was no opportunity last night when I got home.

Before Richard could protest, Manang Fe was already outside Maya’s room knocking at her door.

Manang Fe:Maya….Maya hija, nakahanda na ang almusal, halika na. The knocks caused the door to move, making the little opening bigger. So she went inside and called out her name again. Maya hija, pasensha ka na at pumasok ako. Nakabukas kasi ang pinto eh. Maya? She looks around, she was nowhere in sight. She goes back to the dining table immediately.

After the search, Maya was nowhere to be found. “Could she have possibly left because of what happened last night? But she was okay after I admonished her. She even smiled at me when she said good night.” Richardwas in deep thoughts as he contemplates on what transpired last night. Richard discreetly checked on her room and felt relieved when he saw her mobile phone on the study table beside her hand bag. He goes out to the garage and saw Maya’s car still parked. Then he noticed that the security steel bar of the service gate had been unhooked which means that somebody has already gotten out.

Richard is now upset. It only means that Maya left even before 6:30 without letting anyone know, without even leaving a written message if no one was awake yet when she left. He lost appetite for breakfast so he went to his home office instead.

Richard was getting impatient as it was already 7:30 and Maya has not returned yet. To aggravate his anxiety, there was no way to reach her because she left her mobile phone in her room. He is now in quandary on whether to call Maya’s parents and ask them of her whereabouts or let them know that she sneaked out of his house early in the morning. Just then, he heard the front door open and in seconds, a sweaty Maya walks in casually but was put to a halt when she heard Richard yell.

Richard:Maya! Where the hell have you been?!

She turns around and sees the enraged face of Richard who is now standing near the doorway of the home office. He was so upset, he grabbed Maya by her arm, practically dragged her inside his office and forced her to sit down on the chair while she answers the question.

Maya: Nag jogging lang po, kasi –

Richard:Ni hindi ka nag paalam?! Did it ever cross your mind na magpasabi man lang?! Maya, you are now under my employ and part of this family. If that is tolerated in your house, hindi mo pwede gawin yan sa pamamahay na ito! That was so inconsiderate of you!

Maya: Eh wala pa pong kasing gising when I left early this morning, pe –

Richard: That is not an excuse! You should have at least left a message. Worse, you cannot be reached because you negligently left your mobile phone in your room!

Maya, stubborn as she is, was never treated this way in her own house even if she has done something wrong or irrational. There, due process was always observed, and no judgment is made without giving the supposed wrong doer a chance to explain. In contrast, Richard had already prejudged her as inconsiderate and negligent. As she was not given a chance to finish her answers, she just stares at him without uttering a word.

Richard: What now?! Don’t just stare at me! I want an explanation!

Maya: You’re not letting me! Ni hindi nyo ako pinatapos sa mga sagot ko eh, and yet you were able to make your judgment. You said it, I was inconsiderate and negligent. Husga agad? A man is innocent until proven guilty. Sa inyo, baliktad. Guilty muna agad then prove otherwise?

It was happening again. He did not expect such a reaction from someone in his employ. She does not get intimidated by the mere fact that he’s the boss. His eyes narrowed as he glares at her. He could not believe it. In his thoughts “Did she just retort at me?!” He looks straight at the door, then up the stairs to check if anybody is at a hearing distance, especially his kids. Good thing there was no one. To let the house staff and his kids hear their conversation is simply unacceptable.

Pwede na po ba ako naman ang magsasalita? Richard just frowned at her. As I was trying to say, I decided to jog kasi I woke up very early and could not get back to sleep at wala pa pong gising when I left to jog kaya hindi po ako nakapag paalam, PERO, nag iwan po ako ng note, in fact dalawa pang note!

Maya: Hali po kayo, sumama kayo sa akin, bilis po! She got up from the chair, and with her right hand pulls Richard’s left hand and leads him to the kitchen. Standing before the huge refrigerator, Maya pointed to him a note written on a small yellow post it paper sticking on the upper portion of the door handle of the refrigerator. The note reads as “5:40 a.m. Good morning! :) Lumabas lang po ako para mag jogging – Maya”

Maya: She took the note and witha tone of sarcasm,Your honor, may I ask that this evidence be marked as Exhibit 1 for the defense.

Maya noticed Richard grimaced. Excitedly, she leads Richard back to where he was sitting in his home office. She searched his table, and lifts the folder of her employment file which Richard was looking at while he impatiently waited for her. Underneath the lifted folder is his laptop where she put another yellow small post it paper with the same note. Pointing it to him, she said, again with sarcasm, Your honor, may I ask that this evidence be marked as Exhibit 1-A for the defense.

Richard: Seriously?! Those are the notes? They’re so small! Did you even expect na mababasa yan?

Maya: The point is, I left a note! Therefore, that belies your claim that I was inconsiderate for not even leaving a message! Hindi ko na po kasalanan kung hindi nyo nakita at nabasa sa sobrang singkit ng mga mata nyo.

Richard: Wha-?!

Maya:HEP! Maya said as he raised her left hand to make a stop position. Kindly let me finish, Sir. One more thing po, did you even try to call me at my mobile phone?

You see, Sir, I did not negligently leave my mobile phone. That phone you saw in the room contains my wireless landline sim card at dahil low batt na po, sadya kong iniwan. My MOBILE PHONE, which has my SMART SIM CARD, the same number in my resume that you seemed to be reading a while ago, is with me.

She pulls out her Samsung Galaxy SIII mini unit from the left pocket of her sweat pants, displays it in front of Richard’s face, then says with tone of victory Your honor, may I ask that this evidence be marked as Exhibit 2 for the defense. With that, I rest my case, Sir!

Richard has never been embarrassed. His face is red with rage and embarrassment. Embarrassed with how he dealt with the situation irrationally and furious on how his defeat was flaunted by this woman on his face. To add insult to injury to his male ego, Maya continued with her grandstanding.

Maya: Now, I believe it’s my turn to ask my accuser. So, Mr. Lim, how did you know that I left my phone in the room? Did you enter that room and rummaged through my belongings? How do you plea? Guilty or not guilty?!

With all due respect, Sir, just because you own this house it does not mean that you can invade my privacy in that room. I also want an explanation!

At that juncture, Manang Fe enters the home office. She heard the last part of the conversation as she was approaching the room and saw the red faced Richard. She bails him out because she feels it was her fault for entering Maya’s room in the first place.

The next few days went normal for the Lim household. This means, the kids eat their breakfast and dinner without Richard who was back to his busy work schedule. Good thing Maya stays in the mansion. The kids get to share meal times with her.

Luke: He gets excited with the thought that someone in the house, other than Nikki, is interested with his personal life. He pulls out his phone and shows a stolen shot of Joey. Here Tita Maya. She’s the one in the center.

Nikki: Oh she’s my school mate Tita Maya. She is also a senior sa pasukan. Pero since she was once the president of the theatre club of the grade school, I met her when she helped us out sa isang major play co-sponsored by Ateneo, our neighbor school.

Nikki: Oh my gee! How’d you know that Katipunera thing? Huh?! You are also a Katipunera?

Maya: Since Nursery!

Luke: Eh bakit hindi ka maarte gaya ni Nikki?

Maya: Excuse me Luke, that is not pagiging maarte.

Luke: Hay sus! Ayan na nga.

Maya: We are not maarte. It’s not like, we hate making tusok tusok the fish balls you know! Katipunera nga kami diba?

Everybody laughs.

Maya: Ganyan lang kami pero okay na okay kaming mga katipunera!

The dinner lasted longer than usual. They were having fun exchanging stories, especially Nikki and Maya. Maya requested Manang Fe if they could have ice cream for dessert. Manang Fe gladly heeded the request, much to the delight of the Lim children.

The four were engrossed with their conversation. Their laughter, the shrieks, and loud talks as each tried to outdo the other, filled the house. Manang Fe, Doris, Sabel and Joma just watched them with smiles on their faces. It was at this moment that Richard arrived from Clark where he checked on the construction of the new hangar. He hears the rowdy conversation as he walks towards the main door. He enters the door unnoticed, and saw his children having an animated tête-à-tête with Maya with smiles on their faces.

Richard: What’s this?

Everybody was caught by surprise. Sudden silence engulfed the entire mansion. Maya saw the rapid change in the faces. From joy, she saw fear. With Luke, she saw how dismayed he was, as he looks down and shakes his head. Maya broke the silence and acted cool, as usual.

Richard could not speak. He also saw the sudden change in their faces, especially his kids, and that hurt him. It hurts to feel that he and his children have grown distant since Alex died. It hurt him more to see the terrified look on their faces upon seeing him.

Manang Fe: Ah…Ricardo? Ipaghahain ba kita?

Richard did not know what to do. He just stares at them. So Maya, thought of it as an opportunity to try something.

They have grown so distant that the kids have already gotten used to just hello’s and hi’s and short conversations with their father. When he is upset, which seemed to be almost all the time, the kids did not dare to approach him, not even to say good night. With what Maya just said, the tension became even stronger. Nobody dared to move or talk. But to Maya, there is nothing to risk in trying. So, she persisted.

She breathes deeply and gets the right hand of Richard. O baby, gayahin mo si Teacher Maya ha. Maya does the mano, and while still holding Richard’s hand, pulls him towards her a little bit, lets go of his hand to give him a hug, then gives him a lingering kiss on his right cheeks with a loud smack sound, all to Richard’s surprise. He shivers while Maya gets intoxicated with his male scent. In Maya’s thoughts “oh my dear, amoy gwapo!” She casually walks away. O, kaya mo ba yun Abby? Kailangan yung malakas din yung sound ng kiss ha. Go to Daddy na!

Abby goes to Richard excitedly. She does the mano complete with hug and kiss, then proudly goes to Maya and the two of them simultaneously make the 2 thumps up sign. Richard unconsciously smiles. Nikki was encouraged to do the same as she saw her Dad smile for the first time after a very long while. She runs to Richard, does the mano, gives him a the kiss but hugs him tighter. As she looks up to Luke, she saw the hesitation and so she encouraged him.

As expected, Maya and the Lim children had a blast the next day. Abby was amazed by how Nikki’s school grounds looked like. She was excited for Nikki, as the latter tried on her new high school uniform at the sewing centre located at the college area. There were various uniforms on display, and the colourful ones for the pre-school got Abby’s attention. Abby asked them, through her ipad, when will she be in school like that, so she can wear the uniform on display. After Nikki’s stop, they proceeded to the mall so Luke can really buy his school supplies. Of course, Maya deliberately and naughtily reported every move they made to Richard through text messages.

Maya’s Text: “We are on our way to the sewing centre for Nikki’s uniform.”

Richard frowns as he was getting disturbed with the sound of the alert tone coming from his phone every now and then, and was about to tell Maya just to text him of a major activity, when another message from Maya came in.

Maya’s Text:“Wow, Nikki looks so pretty in her uniform! School girl na school girl ang dating!”

Richard smiles.In his thoughts “Of course, Nikki is pretty. She takes after Alex.” Then another message came in. He raises his eyebrows then frowns again while reading the next succeeding messages.

Richard got busy over the next hours of the afternoon. He did not have the chance to read the succeeding messages, as the team was stuck in a nerve wrecking meeting with contractors and suppliers for the completion of the Clark Hangar. Immediately after the meeting, Richard found himself excitedly pulling out his phone to read his messages.

Maya’s Text: “We’re home! Back at the mansion. This is your reporter, Maya, signing off!”

Richard grins and shakes his head with amusement. As instructed, she reported to him what they were doing in detail even if it was not necessary just to give him peace of mind. She took charge without reservations. She took care of his kids, especially Nikki who needed someone like her. She did not forget Joma while they were at the mall, and made sure he was also okay. In the middle of everything, she did not complain but even managed to ask him if he has eaten lunch. He felt good with her thoughtfulness. Somehow he felt the need to go home early today. So, he informed Liza that he’ll be going home, much to Liza’s surprise and pleasure.

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